TITLES OF PAPERS. 591 



On reassembling, the following paper was read, Vice-President Cham- 

 berlin presiding : 



GEOLOGIC ACTIVITY OF THE EARTH'S ORIGINALLY ABSORBED GASES 



BY ALFRED C. LANE 



Remarks were made by H. F. Reid. The paper is printed at pages 

 259-280 of this volume. 



Announcements were made by Professor Niles relating to the proposed 

 dinner Thursday night ; also by Professor Davis and the Secretary in 

 reference to the program of Thursday. 



The President resumed tlxe chair and the following paper was read : 



DUAL NOMENCLATURE IN GEOLOGIC CLASSIFICATION 

 BY II. S. WILLIAMS 



Remarks were made by Alpheus Hyatt and the President. The paper 

 IS published in The Journal of Geolog}^, volume 2, page 145, and ab- 

 stracts in The American Geologist, volume xiii, page 139, and The 

 American .Journal of Science, volume xlvii, page 143. 



The following paper was read by the author : 



JOHANN DAVID SCHOEPF AND HIS CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN 



GEOLOGY 



• BY GEOKGE HU.NTINGTON WILLIAMS* 



It may be a matter of some satisfaction to American geologists to know that an 

 excellent, but now almost forgotten work on the geology and mineraloj^y of the 

 eastern United States south of New York was pu])Hshe(l at the time when the 

 names of Werner and Ilutton were just beginning to be heard in the scientific 

 circles of Europe. Its author, a young German whom the accident of war brought 

 to our shores, was as well e<iuii)ped as any of liis contemi)oraries for the scientific 

 appreciation of the natural i)iienoinena of a new country. Although a graduate in 

 medicine, as was usual a century ago for all students of natural history, he had 

 both interest and training in mineralogy; mining, geology, physical geography and 

 ineteorolog}', zoiJlogy and botiiny. To these were coupled a strong desire for travel, 

 a keen power of observation and a facility in accurately describing what he saw. 

 Such gifts did not need any great originality or power of generalization to insure 

 for him an honorable position at home or the recognition by his contemporaries of 

 the many works on America, to which he devoted the last fifteen years of his short 

 life. They were not, however, enough to prevent his contributions from sinking 



* The writer's jittention was first culled to the work of this interesting man by Dr John M, Clarke 

 of the State Museum at Albany. 



